At least 16 dead in parachute plane crash in western Russia

At least 16 people died on Sunday when an L-410 light aircraft crashed, aboard which 20 paratroopers and two crew members flew, in the city of Menzelinsk, in the east of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, reported the regional directorate of the Russian Emergency Ministry.

“Six people were rescued, 16 show no signs of lifeThe ministry said on Telegram, modifying a previous toll that spoke of 23 people in total.

“At 9:23 (6:23 GMT) we received the information about the crash of a light plane near the town of Menzelinsk”, said a representative of the Emergency Department, quoted by Interfax.

The fire and rescue services, who immediately attended the scene of the accident, They managed to contain the flames and extract six survivors from the plane, according to the press service of the Ministry of Emergencies.

The authorities emphasize a technical failure as the most probable cause of the loss.

The L-410 is a Czech-made twin-engine aircraft capable of carrying up to 19 passengers or 1.8 tonnes of freight at distances of up to 1,500 kilometers.

One of its main features is that it can be used on short runway and land aerodromes.

According to Interfax, the plane belonged to Russian Army, Aviation and Navy Volunteer Aid Society, which describes itself as a sports and advocacy organization.

The head of the organization’s regional branch said the skydiving club that organized the flight was not to blame. “We are the best, we are in the top five clubs,” Ravil Nurmekhametov told TASS news agency, adding that the club had organized European and World Championships. “Cosmonauts train here,” he said.

The Czech-made L-410 light aircraft was one of two planes used by the club, according to its website.

Two L-410 jets suffered fatal crashes in Russia earlier this year, killing a total of eight.

Russia was known for its plane crashes, but in recent years it has improved the safety of air traffic by switching from Soviet airplanes to modern airplanes. However, poor aircraft maintenance and lax safety regulations continue to cause frequent accidents in remote areas involving light aircraft, sometimes with large-scale tragedies.

(With information from EFE and AFP)